Molding Time: Ways to Read, Recap, and Look Back

To maintain a complete collection of comics in print is almost madding. Acquiring every issue, book, revision, and relaunch of an individual series is difficult enough, but then comes the issue of organization. Early in the days of webcomics these artists and writers found a simple answer to the problem of storing and organizing their work, to create an archive. An archive is a repository of every post of a particular strip. The invention of the webcomic archive has made it possible for the creators to maintain up to date records of their comics in dramatically different ways to suit the nature of the webcomic. In addition, by keeping a record of the previous strips, archives give latecomers the ability to catch up on a comic from the beginning.

Most webcomics are not created with the latecomer reader in mind, but the current reader. Current readers are those who typically check a webcomic’s site when an update is scheduled, whether that is daily, weekly or sporadically. These are the readers who maintain a dialogue with the creators and have a say in molding the comic while they eagerly wait for each update. Current readers have the benefit of being up to date with a strip, and get to see the story unfold gradually over a longer span of time. The archive is also used by current readers as a method to refresh their memory of prior events as well as satisfy their need for a comic while waiting for new updates.

The other kind of reader, the latecomer or the archive reader, either begins by reading random strips or by starting at the beginning of a webcomic's run and reading to the latest page. Most webcomics encourage readers to start at the beginning with the inclusion of a "first" or "beginning" button, thus giving readers the ability to go back to the start of a comic instantaneously. A few creators of less-serialized strips encourage reading strips in any order with the inclusion of a "random" button, such as Howard Tayler’s Schlock Mercenary and Jeph Jacques’ Questionable Content . There are a few more involved methods to bring a reader up to speed on a webcomic. Schlock Mercenary also has a “Schlock Mercenary Basic Training” section that gives an introduction about the strip before recommending readers start with Book 3 when the first plot arch begins. Others, such as Jorge Cham’s Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD), let the reader pick where to start. PhD has links to the 200 most popular strips, as well as the most pertinent strips about a given character or topic. Finally, some comics organize by the strip's chronology, such as Something Positive which I'm pretty certain that its first strips were not published in 1937.
Questionable Content: Then: The first stripQuestionable Content: Now: A much later strip.
The archive reader, more so than the current reader, is aware of the change in an artist's style since they typically read the same comics in a shorter span of time. Most webcomics change dramatically over the years with regards to art. A side-by-side comparison of Jeph Jacques Questionable Content reveals much an artist can change with a few years of practice. The same applies to the writing for webcomics, as writers grow comfortable telling more ambitious stories. A good example of a dramatic shift in writing would be Michael "Mookie" Terracciano's Dominic Deegan which began as a "gag a day" strip but later evolved into a fantasy epic.

Dominic Deegan #1: Gag a Day

Dominic Deegan: Demon: to Sometimes Gruesome Fantasy Epic

Some webcomics organize their archives a bit more with publication in mind. Chris Hazzleton’s Misfile is organized into books for publication with the special features such as days missed and holiday strips kept in a separate section of the archives, though still in the correct locations if going through chronologically. Others take on more of the comic book feel of issues, such as David R. Rodriquez and Dave Reynolds' Shadow Girls which begins with a welcoming page set up like the early pages of an issue of a comic book. Other artists take more of an infinite canvas approach to their archive, such as Joana Lafunete's Loli Loves Venom or Dave Anez's Bob and George. This format of archive brings webcomics closer to print and eliminates some of Scott McCloud's argument about being unable to see panels in relation to one another on the web.

A webcomics' archive is no longer just a tool to get new readers caught up, but the creators are using it as a reminder of what came before. Some webcomics are even starting to post links back to earlier strips to aid in this process. This ability to instantaneously link back keeps the creators from having to recap what happened previously and taking up unnecessary space, something print comics as a whole cannot avoid. Questionable Content does this numerous times throughout the series by posting links in the adjoining blog, including here. Likewise links external to the site may be posted to help explain a joke. Once again, Questionable Content is the example.

Regardless of how much a webcomic utilizes its archive to assist in telling its story, an archives function as a storage device should not be underestimated. It is through an archive that new readers are brought on board, old readers entertained while waiting for new strips, and an organized record of the creators' work preserved.

Webcomics:
Anez, Dave. Bob and George. http://www.bobandgeorge.com.
Cham, Jorge. Piled Higher and Deeper. http://www.phdcomics.com.
Hazzleton, Chris. Misfile. http://www.misfile.com.
Jacques, Jeph. Questionable Content. http://www.questionablecontent.net.
Lafunete, Joana. Loli Loves Venom. http://www.lolilovesvenom.com.
Milholland, R. K. Something Positive. http://www.somethingpositive.net/.
Rodriquez, David R. and Dave Reynolds. Shadow Girls. http://www.shadowgirlscomic.com.
Tayler, Howard. Schlock Mercenary. http://www.schlockmercenary.com.
Terracciano, Michael. Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire. http://www.dominic-deegan.com.